Expandable Shaft For Winding/Unwinding Machines

ABSTRACT

An expandable shaft for winding/unwinding machines is provided and includes a shaft body defining a shaft cavity and having a shaft first end, a shaft second end and a shaft body outer surface having a plurality of body openings which communicate the shaft body outer surface with the shaft cavity, a gripping structure, wherein the gripping structure is located within the shaft cavity and aligned with the plurality of body openings and a plunger having a plunger body. The plunger body includes a plunger outer surface having a plurality of peaks and valleys, wherein the plunger is configurable between a first configuration and a second configuration. When in the first configuration the plurality of valleys are aligned with the gripping structure and when in the second configuration the plurality of peaks are aligned with the gripping structure where the gripping structure is protruding from the plurality of body openings.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims the benefit of the filing dateof U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/064,643 filed Oct.16, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an expandable shaft and moreparticularly to an expandable shaft for retaining material on awinder/unwinder machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many different types of industries use rolls of material to store andtransport materials used in producing a product. These materials, whichinclude textiles, paper, plastic, metal, string, fabric, etc, aretypically wound onto a mandrel, hollow tube or core using a windingmachine or winder. When a product is being manufactured, the material isthen removed from the tube or core by unwinding the material as neededusing an unwinder. In order for the material to be added to or removedfrom the tube or core, the winder/unwinder machine must be able to holdand rotate the roll of material. This is typically accomplished via ashaft that is removably located within the hollow center portion of themandrel, tube or core, where the shaft engages the tube or core suchthat when the shaft rotates, the roll of material rotates. As isrequired with most mechanical devices, these shafts need to bemaintained and repaired periodically.

Unfortunately, however in order to repair the current expandable shaftscommonly found in the market place (with the bladder) a fair amount oftime would usually be required. The worker typically needs todisassemble the device, replace the bladder (which has a predictablelife span) and re-assemble the shaft. Normally this involves thetechnician removing a steel pin which was driven crosswise in theassembly to hold the shaft together. This is a fairly time consuming andcostly operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An expandable shaft for winding/unwinding machines is provided andincludes a shaft body, wherein the shaft body defines a shaft cavity andincludes a shaft first end, a shaft second end and a shaft body outersurface having a plurality of body openings which communicate the shaftbody outer surface with the shaft cavity. The expandable shaft furtherincludes a gripping structure, wherein the gripping structure is locatedwithin the shaft cavity to be aligned with the plurality of bodyopenings and a plunger having a plunger body, wherein the plunger bodyincludes a plunger outer surface having a plurality of peaks andvalleys, wherein the plunger is configurable between a firstconfiguration and a second configuration, wherein when in the firstconfiguration the plurality of valleys are aligned with the grippingstructure and when in the second configuration the plurality of peaksare aligned with the gripping structure such that the gripping structureis protruding from the plurality of body openings.

An expandable shaft for winding/unwinding machines is provided andincludes a shaft body, wherein the shaft body defines a shaft cavity andincludes a shaft first end, a shaft second end and a shaft body outersurface having a plurality of body openings which communicate the shaftbody outer surface with the shaft cavity. The expandable shaft furtherincludes a plurality of gripping pins, wherein the plurality of grippingpins are located within the shaft cavity to be aligned with theplurality of body openings and a plunger having a plunger outer surfacewith a plurality of peaks and valleys, wherein the plunger isconfigurable between a first configuration and a second configuration,wherein when in the first configuration, the plunger causes theplurality of gripping pins to protrude from the plurality of bodyopenings and when in the second configuration the plurality of grippingpins are retracted into the plurality of body openings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill be more fully understood from the following detailed description ofillustrative embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which like elements are numbered alike in the severalFigures:

FIG. 1 is side partially sectional view of an expandable shaft, inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a collective side view of the components of the expandableshaft in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the shaft body of the expandable shaft of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the plunger of the expandable shaft of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is side a view of the first shaft handle of the expandable shaftof FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is side a view of the second shaft handle of the expandable shaftof FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side view of two different types of gripper pins for usewith the expandable shaft of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of a gripper pin retainer for use withthe expandable shaft of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of a plurality of gripper pinsassociated with a gripper pin retainer for use with the expandable shaftof FIG. 1.

FIG. 10A is a longitudinal sectional view of peaks of the plungerengaging the gripper pins within the expandable shaft of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10B is a longitudinal sectional view of peaks of the plungerengaging the gripper pins within the expandable shaft of FIG. 1 within amaterial roll.

FIG. 11A is a longitudinal sectional view of valleys of the plungerengaging the gripper pins within the expandable shaft of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11B is a longitudinal sectional view of valleys of the plungerengaging the gripper pins within the expandable shaft of FIG. 1 within amaterial roll.

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of the expandable shaft of FIG. 1illustrating the air chamber in the collapsed configuration and theplunger in the first configuration, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 13 is a side sectional view of the expandable shaft of FIG. 1illustrating the air chamber in the expanded configuration and theplunger in the second configuration, in accordance with one embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It should be appreciated that an expandable shaft that is easier, moreefficient and less costly to use and repair than current expandableshafts is provided in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Asfurther discussed herein the expandable shaft of the present inventionis unique in at least two ways: 1) the cammed plunger, and 2) thegripper pin retainer system. The cammed plunger is the only componentwhich needs to machined to specific machining tolerances. All othermanufacturing tolerances are of normal commercial tolerances thus savingon cost. Also, because the cammed plunger comes into direct contact withthe gripper pins, a higher level of accuracy than that available withcurrent devices may be achieved. The gripper pin retainer system is veryinexpensive and aids in the ease of assembly and disassembly of thedevice.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an expandable shaft 100 is provided andincludes a substantially cylindrical shaft body 102, a plunger 104, abiasing member (return spring) 106, a gripper pin retainer 108 and aplurality of gripper pins 110, in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. It should be appreciated that although the invention isdisclosed herein with regards to a plurality of gripper pins 110, it iscontemplated that any gripping structure may be used suitable to thedesired end purpose. For example, any gripping structure that isconfigurable to extend out of (to contact a material roll 111) andretract into the shaft body 102 may be used. Referring to FIG. 3, theshaft body 102 includes a shaft body inner surface 112, a shaft bodyouter surface 114 and defines a first shaft end opening 116, a secondshaft end opening 118 and a shaft cavity 120 communicating the firstshaft end opening 116 with the second shaft end opening 118, wherein theshaft cavity 120 includes a shaft cavity diameter DC. Additionally, theshaft body 102 includes a plurality of body openings 122, wherein theplurality of body openings 122 are distributed along the length andcircumference of the shaft body 102 to be arranged in a plurality ofrows that extend along the longitudinal axis X of the shaft body 102.

Referring to FIG. 4, the plunger 104 is substantially cylindrical inshape and includes a plunger body 124 having a plunger first end 121, aplunger second end 123 and a plunger outer surface 126 that is contouredto include a plurality of peaks 128 and valleys 130 that are distributedalong the length of the outer surface 126. Additionally, the plungerbody 124 includes a plunger length P_(L), a first plunger diameter DP1and a second plunger diameter DP2, wherein the first plunger diameterDP1 is the diameter of the plunger body 124 with regards to theplurality of peaks 128 and the second plunger diameter DP2 is thediameter of the plunger body 124 with regards to the plurality ofvalleys 130. Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the expandable shaft 100further includes a first shaft handle 132 and a second shaft handle 134,wherein each of the first shaft handle 132 and the second shaft handle134 include a handle base 136 and a handle actuator portion 138 andwherein the first shaft handle 132 is non-movably associated with oneend of the shaft body 102 such that the handle actuator portion 138 ofthe first shaft handle 132 is protruding out of the first shaft endopening 116.

The second shaft handle 134 (or actuator handle 134) is non-movablyassociated with one end of the plunger body 124 such that rotating thesecond shaft handle 134 causes the plunger body 124 to rotate. Moreover,the second shaft handle 134 is non-movably associated with the other endof the shaft body 102 such that the handle actuator portion 138 of thesecond shaft handle 134 is protruding out of the second shaft endopening 118 and such that the plunger body 124 is located within theshaft body 102, wherein the return spring 106 is located between thehandle base 136 of the first shaft handle 132 and the end of the plungerbody 124. It should be appreciated that when the first shaft handle 132and the second shaft handle 134 are non-movably associated with theshaft body 102, the plunger body 124 is positioned within the shaftcavity 120 such that the plurality of peaks 128 are aligned with theplurality of body openings 122.

Referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, it should be appreciated that each ofthe plurality of gripper pins 110 includes a pin head 140 and a pin body142 and the gripper pin retainer 108 includes a plurality of pinopenings 144 that are distributed and arranged along the gripper pinretainer 108. Referring to FIG. 9, the plurality of pin openings 144 aresized substantially equal to the pin body 142 of the gripper pins 110 toallow the gripper pins 110 to be located within the pin opening 144. Thegripper pins 110 are prevented from passing through the pin openings 144because the pin heads 140 are larger than the pin openings 144. Thegripper pins 110 are located within the pin openings 144 and the gripperpin retainer 108 is located within the shaft cavity 120 such that thepin bodies 142 of the plurality of gripper pins 110 are protruding fromthe plurality of body openings 122 and such that the pin heads 140 arealigned with the plurality of peaks 128 such that the plurality of peaks128 push outward on the pin heads 140 to cause the pin bodies 142 of theplurality of gripper pins 110 to protrude from the plurality of bodyopenings 122.

When the expandable shaft 100 is located within the cavity of a materialroll mandrel, hollow tube or core 111, the plurality of pin bodies 142will protrude outwardly (See FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B) to press against theinner wall of the mandrel, hollow tube or core thereby non-movablyassociating the expandable shaft 100 with the roll of material. Thus,when the expandable shaft 100 rotates, the roll of material will rotate.To remove the expandable shaft 100 from the cavity of the material rollmandrel, hollow tube or core 111, the actuator handle 134 is move alongthe longitudinal axis of the expandable shaft 100 such that theplurality of valleys 130 are aligned with the plurality of body openings122, wherein the pin heads are now allowed to move inwardly into theplurality of valleys 130 (See FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B) such that they areno longer pressing against the inner wall of the mandrel, hollow tube orcore and the expandable shaft 100 can be removed from the cavity of thematerial roll mandrel, hollow tube or core 111.

Referring again to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the plunger 104 includes a plungerlength P_(L), wherein the plunger outer surface 126 is configured tohave a plurality of peaks 128 and valleys 130 distributed along at leasta portion of the plunger outer surface 126 along the plunger lengthP_(L). Referring to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, it is contemplated that whenthe plunger 104 is located within the shaft body 102, the plunger 104 isconfigured to be controllably movable along an axis X that extends alongthe plunger length P_(L) between a first configuration 300 and a secondconfiguration 400. This may be accomplished via any method suitable tothe desired end purpose and allows the gripper pins 110 to beconfigurable between being extended out of the plurality of bodyopenings 122 or retracted into the plurality of body openings 122. Oneembodiment for accomplishing this is by using a pneumatic actuationconfiguration. In this embodiment, the shaft body 102 includes an airchamber 150 located on the opposing end of the expandable shaft 100 thatincludes the return spring 106 (i.e. the air chamber 150 is locatedproximate the second shaft handle 134). The shaft body 102 includes anair intake 152 for introducing air pressure into the air chamber 150,wherein the air intake 152 is sealingly communicated with the airchamber 150. The air chamber 150 is associated with plunger first end121 such that when the air pressure in the air chamber 150 is at orabove a predetermined level, the air chamber 150 pushes against theplunger first end 121 to cause the plunger 104 to move in the directionalong the axis X that extends along the plunger length P_(L). Thiscauses the plunger 104 to be positioned such that the plurality of peaksare aligned with the gripping pins 110 (pushing the gripping pins 110outward) and the plunger second end 123 is compressing the biasingmember 106. When the air pressure in the air chamber 150 is below apredetermined level, the air chamber 150 ceases to push against theplunger first end 121. Thus, biasing member 106 decompresses causing theplunger 104 to move in the opposite direction along the axis X thatextends along the plunger length P_(L). This causes the plunger 104 tobe positioned such that the plurality of valleys are aligned with thegripping pins 110, thus allowing the gripping pins to retract into theshaft cavity 120.

When the air pressure in the air chamber 150 is low, the air chamber 150is in a collapsed configuration and the plunger 104 is in a firstconfiguration 300, such that the plurality of gripper pins 110 arealigned with the plurality of valleys 130. This allows the gripper pins110 to retract into the plurality of body openings 122 to allow theexpandable shaft 100 to be disassociated from the material roll mandrel,hollow tube or core 111. When air is introduced into the air chamber150, the pressure within the air chamber 150 increases such that the airchamber 150 is in an expanded configuration and the plunger 104 is in asecond configuration 400, such that the plurality of gripper pins 110are aligned with the plurality of peaks 128. This causes the pluralityof gripper pins 110 to extend outwardly from the plurality of bodyopenings 122 such that the plurality of gripper pins 110 press againstthe inside wall of the material roll mandrel, hollow tube or core 111thereby securely associating the expandable shaft 100 with the materialroll mandrel, hollow tube or core 111. When the air is released from theair chamber 150, the (return) biasing spring 106 causes the plunger 104to be reconfigured from the second configuration 400 back into the firstconfiguration 300.

Thus, injecting air into the plunger 104 causes the shaft body 102 toexpand axially thereby moving the plunger 104 axially. This causes thepeaks 128 of the plunger outer surface 126 to be aligned with thegripper pins 110 and one end of the shaft body 102 to press against thebiasing spring 106. This causes the peaks 128 to push against thegripper pins 110 to cause the gripper pins 110 to protrude from theplurality of body openings 122 such that the plurality of gripper pins110 press against the inside wall of the material roll mandrel, hollowtube or core 111 thus, securing the material roll to the movingcomponents of the machine. Releasing the air causes the plunger 104 tobe moved back to its collapsed position (via the biasing spring 106)such that the gripper pins 110 are aligned with the valleys 130 and thusare not protruding. It should be appreciated that the expandable shaft100 may be either mechanically actuated and/or pneumatically actuated,as desired.

Moreover, the second shaft handle 134 is non-movably associated with theother end of the shaft body 102 such that the handle actuator portion138 of the second shaft handle 134 is protruding out of the second shaftend opening 118 and such that the plunger body 124 is located within theshaft body 102, wherein the return spring 106 is located between thehandle base 136 of the first shaft handle 132 and the end of the plungerbody 124. It should be appreciated that when the first shaft handle 132and the second shaft handle 134 are non-movably associated with theshaft body 102, the plunger body 124 is positioned within the shaftcavity 120 such that the plurality of peaks 128 are aligned with theplurality of body openings 122.

It should be appreciated that other methods for configuring the plunger104 between the first and second configurations are contemplated. Forexample, in another embodiment the plunger 104 may move via a mechanicaland/or electrical motor. Additionally, in still yet another embodiment,the outer surface 126 of the plunger body 124 may be configured suchthat all or only portions of the outer surface of the plunger body 124is configurable to expand and contract. For example, in one embodimentthe plunger body 124 may define a hollow portion that includes abladder, where when air pressure is introduced into the bladder, theouter surface 126 of the plunger body 124 (or only portions of the outersurface 126) expand to compress against the gripper pins 110 therebycausing the gripper pins 110 to extend outwardly from the body openings122. This may also be accomplished via an electrical and/or mechanicalmotor.

It should be appreciated that while the invention has been describedwith reference to an exemplary embodiment, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and/oradditions may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elementsthereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from thescope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not belimited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appendedclaims. Moreover, unless specifically stated any use of the terms first,second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the termsfirst, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another.

We claim:
 1. An expandable shaft for winding/unwinding machines, theexpandable comprising: a shaft body, wherein the shaft body defines ashaft cavity and includes a shaft first end, a shaft second end and ashaft body outer surface having a plurality of body openings whichcommunicate the shaft body outer surface with the shaft cavity; agripping structure, wherein the gripping structure is located within theshaft cavity to be aligned with the plurality of body openings; and aplunger having a plunger body, wherein the plunger body includes aplunger outer surface having a plurality of peaks and valleys, whereinthe plunger is configurable between a first configuration and a secondconfiguration, wherein when in the first configuration the plurality ofvalleys are aligned with the gripping structure and when in the secondconfiguration the plurality of peaks are aligned with the grippingstructure such that the gripping structure is protruding from theplurality of body openings.
 2. The expandable shaft of claim 1, furthercomprising a roll of material, wherein the roll of material includesroll inner structure and wherein when the gripping structure isprotruding from the plurality of body openings, the gripping structureis contacting the roll inner structure.
 3. The expandable shaft of claim1, wherein the plunger includes a plunger first end, a plunger secondend and a plunger axis extending from the plunger first end to theplunger second end, and wherein the plunger is movably associated withthe shaft body to be controllably configurable along the plunger axisbetween the first configuration and the second configuration.
 4. Theexpandable shaft of claim 3, further comprising a first handle and asecond handle, wherein the first handle is non-movably associated withone end of the shaft body and wherein the second handle is non-movablyassociated with plunger second end such that the first and second handleextend out of the shaft first end and shaft second end.
 5. Theexpandable shaft of claim 1, further comprising an air chamber locatedproximate the plunger first end and associated with the plunger firstend, wherein the air chamber is configured to cause the plunger to beconfigured between the first configuration and the second configuration.6. The expandable shaft of claim 5, further comprising a biasing memberlocated proximate the shaft second end, wherein when the plunger is inthe first configuration, the plunger is located within the shaft cavitysuch that the plurality of valleys are aligned with the plurality ofbody openings and the gripping structure.
 7. The expandable shaft ofclaim 6, wherein when the plunger is in the first configuration, theplunger is located within the shaft cavity such that the plurality ofvalleys are aligned with the plurality of body openings and the grippingstructure.
 8. The expandable shaft of claim 6, wherein when the plungeris in the second configuration, the plunger is located within the shaftcavity such that the plurality of peaks are aligned with the pluralityof body openings and the gripping structure.
 9. The expandable shaft ofclaim 1, wherein the gripping structure is a plurality of gripping pinsand wherein the plurality of gripping pins are located to be alignedwith the plurality of body openings.
 10. The expandable shaft of claim9, further comprising at least one gripper pin retainer, wherein the atleast one gripper pin retainer is configured to associate the pluralityof gripping pins together.
 11. An expandable shaft for winding/unwindingmachines, the expandable comprising: a shaft body, wherein the shaftbody defines a shaft cavity and includes a shaft first end, a shaftsecond end and a shaft body outer surface having a plurality of bodyopenings which communicate the shaft body outer surface with the shaftcavity; a plurality of gripping pins, wherein the plurality of grippingpins are located within the shaft cavity to be aligned with theplurality of body openings; and a plunger having a plunger outer surfacewith a plurality of peaks and valleys, wherein the plunger isconfigurable between a first configuration and a second configuration,wherein when in the first configuration, the plunger causes theplurality of gripping pins to protrude from the plurality of bodyopenings and when in the second configuration the plurality of grippingpins are retracted into the plurality of body openings.
 12. Theexpandable shaft of claim 11, wherein when in the first configurationthe plurality of valleys are aligned with the plurality of gripping pinssuch that the plurality of gripping pins are retracted into theplurality of body openings and when in the second configuration theplurality of peaks are aligned with the plurality of gripping pins suchthat the plurality of gripping pins are protruding from the plurality ofbody openings.
 13. The expandable shaft of claim 11, further comprisinga roll of material, wherein the roll of material includes roll innerstructure and wherein when the plurality of gripping pins are protrudingfrom the plurality of body openings, the plurality of gripping pins arecontacting the roll inner structure.
 14. The expandable shaft of claim11, wherein the plunger includes a plunger first end, a plunger secondend and a plunger axis extending from the plunger first end to theplunger second end, and wherein the plunger is movably associated withthe shaft body to be controllably configurable along the plunger axisbetween the first configuration and the second configuration.
 15. Theexpandable shaft of claim 14, further comprising a first handle and asecond handle, wherein the first handle is non-movably associated withone end of the shaft body and wherein the second handle is non-movablyassociated with plunger second end such that the first and second handleextend out of the shaft first end and shaft second end.
 16. Theexpandable shaft of claim 11, further comprising an air chamber locatedproximate the plunger first end and associated with the plunger firstend such that when the air chamber includes a predetermine air pressure,the air chamber is configured to cause the plunger to be configuredbetween the first configuration and the second configuration.
 17. Theexpandable shaft of claim 16, further comprising a biasing memberlocated proximate the shaft second end, wherein when the plunger is inthe first configuration, the plunger is located within the shaft cavitysuch that the plurality of valleys are aligned with the plurality ofbody openings and the plurality of gripping pins.